Consequences of Betrayal and Anger
by sparky8me2
Summary: So completely AU it'll make your head spin. Loosely based on an rp I did with a couple friends, and Padme's voice just sort of... stuck in my head. Anakin does a lot of Not Very Nice Things, because Jealousy? Very ugly, very much of the Dark Side.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Consequences of Betrayal and Anger

Author: sparky8me2

Summary: So completely AU it'll make your head spin. Loosely based on an rp I did with a couple friends, and Padme's voice just sort of... stuck in my head. Anakin does a lot of Not Very Nice Things, because Jealousy? Very ugly, very much of the Dark Side. This is my first Star Wars fic in a very long time. Please be gentle. Pleeeeaaassee?

Disclaimer: No one belongs to me. I've nothing worth suing for anyway.

I don't know what's gotten into Anakin, but something is very wrong, and I think I have a very good idea who's behind it.

It started with a lack of trust. A lot of jealousy. Obi-Wan and I were talking and suddenly we heard him yelling- he seemed to be talking to someone that wasn't there. He said something about a dragon. We tried to help, but he was so agitated we were just making it worse...

So, as we were asked, we left him there in peace because the more we tried to speak with him, the more we tried to calm him, the worse he was getting. So outside Anakin's room, Obi-Wan informed me of what Dooku had told him on Genosis. That the Senate was under control of a Sith Lord. That that same Sith Lord might be influencing Anakin.

So inside, Anakin heard every word of our conversation.

And everything started going downhill.

Jealousy, accusations... and so much anger...

Obi-Wan warned me. Anakin came to speak with him- accused us of speaking behind his back. Told him he shouldn't be at my apartment unless he was there in the first place. Ridiculous. Obi-Wan is my friend. Who does he think he is? Saying who I can and cannot have in my own home?

Funny how your perception changes under such stresses.

_Anakin... How're you feeling?_

_How should I be feeling when you and Obi-Wan are talking about me behind my back?_

Never a good way to start a conversation. From there, things only got worse. He tried telling me that obviously we aren't being honest with him when Obi-Wan "is over more times than he needs to be" and that we spend more time talking than I do with Anakin. I tried to keep my anger in check, although I wanted to scream at him for suggesting such things- he knows how I feel about him! He knows I love him!

He told me he was leaving, and said that the Council didn't need him and obviously I didn't either since I had Obi-Wan. I tried to reason with him. I tried to tell him that I loved him, but he didn't believe me.

And that hurt more than anything else he had ever said to me. I think that solidified in my head, the idea that there was something else at work. The Anakin I know and love would never be so harsh. I knew in my heart that my Anakin would never doubt my love. No matter what. No matter how angry. I stood there, hurt and bewildered and shocked into silence as I tried to recover my thought process enough to try to continue reasoning with him. To try to convince him not to leave. That whatever troubled him so could be worked out. But he wouldn't have any of it and walked away.

And I ran straight to Obi-Wan.

The irony of which didn't strike me until later. But he assured me that Anakin would not leave. That first, he would go confide in his friend the Chancellor, and that Palpatine would find a way to convince him to stay. Thank goodness for small favours. We discussed the matter for awhile and decided mutually that it would be best to both give Anakin the space he needed and allow him to believe that we were no longer speaking with each other. We would both continue in our search to discover the cause of this madness and have contact only in secret and only when necessary. As we parted in public for what I was certain was the last time, I found myself grieved for this new need of secrecy and comforted in the knowledge that my husband wouldn't leave the planet. If only because of Chancellor Palpatine.

For the next several days, all of my free time was spent on research. Reviewing my own notes, and every official document I could get my hands on. Anything that could potentially hold the answers I was looking for. Signs of anything out of the ordinary in entirely extraordinary times. Essentially, a needle in a haystack.

During times that I could read no more, when my focus threatened to waver. I took walks by myself to try to clear my head. I remained largely undisturbed and my thoughts so often wandered to the task at hand I doubt I would have been much company for anyone wishing to speak with me anyway.

Until I saw Anakin. So Obi-Wan was correct. He was still on Coruscant. For that, I was glad. The conversation was uncomfortable. We spoke not as husband and wife, not as two people very much in love, but distanced from each other. As though our relationship was irreparably damaged. Which, although I wouldn't be fully aware of it until much later, it was. He imparted to me, however, an important piece of information. He told Palpatine about the conversation Obi-Wan and I had outside his room when he was acting so strangely. The Supreme Chancellor _knew_ of our suspicions and likely knew we would both be looking into the matter.

Another bombshell dropped on my head. Anakin assured me that Palpatine felt as he had, that the idea was ridiculous. After all, the Jedi Council would KNOW if evil was lurking in the Republic. But my heart sank. If there was a Sith lord was excersizing some control over the Senate... What better way to do it than through the man we granted emergency powers to for the duration of this war? Thanks to Anakin, thanks to all of his suspicions and all of the faith he's put in the Chancellor... if Obi-Wan's theory is true, then the Sith now know...

And suddenly it hits me that Obi-Wan and I could be in a great deal of danger, and that there may now be avenues of research cut off to me.

I quickly excused myself and headed back towards my apartment. Obi-Wan needed to be warned. I wish it were as easy as just using a comlink, but that was a risk I couldn't afford to take. It'd have to wait until I got to my apartment and could ask Artoo to send a coded message to Arfour. Both droids could delete all traces of the message easily.

"Padme, hello." Bail was smiling upon his approach. His expression quickly turned to worry, however, when he saw that I, on the other hand was not. "What's wrong?"

"I..." Without anyone else to talk to, I wanted to tell him everything. But of course, I couldn't. Telling him everything would mean having to explain about my marriage to Anakin and how everything was falling down around my ears and... No. They were secrets I couldn't allow to be exposed. "It's complicated."

"More complicated than politics?" He asked with a smile. "Try me."

I told him it was much more complicated, and he asked me again to tell him. I couldn't force my thought-process to make an excuse not to, so instead I focused on looking for a way to tell him that wouldn't be saying too much. The truth was, I needed someone to talk to. "A... good friend of mine has been acting very strangely as of late... I'm concerned." It was the best I could come up with.

Thankfully he didn't ask who it was- I wasn't prepared for an answer to that. Or at least, not a satisfying one. Instead, just, "Strangely? How?"

So I told him. I told him there was a lot of jealousy of my relationship with others, I told him there was a loss of trust. A lot of anger, and that I didn't have an explanation for any of it. Just having someone to listen to a great deal of pressure off, it seemed, and set me considerably more at ease. I didn't wish to speak any more of it, so I made a decision to change the subject. To ask a question casually that would come to place Bail and another in as much danger as Obi-Wan and I.

"Have you noticed anything strange going on in the Senate lately?"

He commented on everything being strange lately, with the war going on and asked more questions that I couldn't answer. I told him honestly, I wasn't certain what I was looking for. It was brought up by someone else and I decided to look into it.

We moved the conversation inside to my apartment, for obvious reasons, but I still wasn't able to satisfy all of Bail's questions. I apologized for not being able to give him any details I didn't have and told him that I was just asking if he might have noticed something I've overlooked. He promised to look into it for me and gained my permission to enlist the help of another Senator he knew could be trusted.

After he left, somehow, I felt a lot better with the knowledge that I wouldn't be searching for answers alone. If there was Sith involvement, then certainly Bail would be able to go unsuspected long enough to be able to uncover vital information.

Although, even at that point, I began to worry for the safety of my friends...


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Arrest

Author: sparky8me2

Summary: Still head spinningly AU. See the first chapter for the first summary.

Disclaimer: I still own no one at all.

Things have gotten drastically worse. Anakin's descent towards madness has continued, worsening despite all of our best efforts. Eventually, he came to my apartment to confront me regarding my friendship with Bail. I tried to tell him that he had no business dictating who I could or could not be friends with, but he said it was too late. I palmed the door to shut and as it slid closed, I could see him turn to leave with so much anger written all over his face. I've been afraid for Anakin many times, but that was the first time that I was ever afraid OF him and what he may do...

I had Artoo send a message, warning Obi-Wan of what had just transpired and very quickly- more so than I would have expected, I recieved a reply urging me to be very cautious around Anakin and consider not even opening the door to him. Not open the door to my own husband... How did this ever get so bad? I just wanted my Anakin back. I thought things couldn't get much worse.

Then they did. Drastically.

Anakin returned to the Temple when Obi-Wan contacted him and tried to kill him. And told him he planned on killing Bail too. I firmly believe if it wasn't for the Chancellor and Obi-Wan's efforts, he would still be locked away in the Temple, instead of just having his weapon confiscated and being placed on probationary duty. Perhaps that would have been for the best.

As weeks went by, more and more we watched the Senate and more and more now that we were aware of what we were watching for, we began to see signs of corruption. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I cannot speak for anyone aside myself, but I had begun to regret voting to grant him emergency powers. And putting forth the no-confidence vote in Chancellor Valorum to begin with...

So some of us began to gather on occasion and speak of what could be done, legally, if the Senate had decided that the use of these emergency powers were going too far. We knew there were more who felt as we did, but given that times were becoming dangerous, we could not approach anyone until we were certain. We needed time and more of it than we really felt we had. We couldn't risk our perfectly legal petition to be rooted out and halted before it even began.

Near the end of one of our meetings, Obi-Wan brought up the prospect of listening devices... Particularly one planted by Anakin. I knew Anakin would never do such a thing, then I remembered Anakin can no longer be trusted. My heart sank when I realized that when the others disagreed, they were right.

_Oh, Anakin... How did this happen? How did things get so bad that not even my own husband is to be trusted?_

The ramifications of Artoo joining in the conversation with a series of beeps and whistles didn't strike me right away. Not until Obi-Wan asked where Threepio was, did it occur to me. "I told them both to shut down..."

"A little walking recording device. Damn."

We discussed the matter and while we thought it would be a good idea to purge Artoo's memory, Mon Mothma disagreed. She said we should use the opportunity to test Anakin's loyalties. To see if he took the information Artoo had to the Chancellor. I don't think she realized how important it was Anakin the Chancellor not find out what we're discussing. I was afraid it would confirm what I already feared- that Anakin's loyalties no longer laid with us...

So I waited. I waited until Bail and Mon Mothma left to have Obi-Wan take Artoo to have his memory wiped. Although when he brought him back, he told me he was unsuccessful. And now that I was alerted to the fact that the little astromech might be spying on us, how close he stayed to Obi-Wan and I while we discussed it was particularly disturbing.

After Obi-Wan left, I got myself a cup of tea and went to relax with my notes, although soon I was sound asleep. The next thing I was aware of was a contingent of soldiers, led by Anakin bursting through my door, and Threepio asking if they had an invitation. I jumped up and demanded to know what was going on. And Artoo answered. _Oh no..._

"What do you mean they are arresting Mistress Padme? What do you know of it?"

_Oh no, oh no... This can't be happening... _My mind was whirling, even worse when Anakin came into the room, and only one thought entered my mind... Must warn the others... "Threepio! See to it the Jedi know about this!" It was my hope that they hadn't arrested Obi-Wan yet. That he could warn the others and get them to safety. After all, what we were discussing... working on a petition to remove the Chancellor from power, was not illegal. These arrests themselves were completely unjust!

As Threepio moved to do as I asked him, Anakin and I stared at each other. I think he was as stunned to see me as I was to see him. I couldn't believe my own husband would be sent to arrest me. He accused me of trying to bring down the Republic Of plotting against it. The Anakin I know and love knows I would never do such a thing. He said the Chancellor is a kind and just man and it took all of my self-control to try to reason with him- to try to make him _understand_ what was happening and the importance of it,instead of snapping at him aboutbeingcompletely blind to the obvious and calling him Palpatine's Puppet. It didn't take very long for him to grow tired of our discussion and have me led away to Coruscant's detention cells.


End file.
